The Kāpiti Junior Chess Championship, played in Paraparaumu in December, saw players representing 22 schools from Wellington to Levin compete across four divisions.
In the premier open division, top seed Ryan Winter (Wellington College) suffered a surprise defeat in round one to Josh Langford (Wellington College).
Former Paraparaumu College student Geoffrey Gunawan held the joint lead at the halfway stage but was not able to carry his early momentum into the later rounds.
Going into the sixth and final round, Henry Zaslow (Onslow College) had a clear half point lead but had to settle for third place, after losing a tough battle to Kayden Loke who took the title on tie-break from Ryan Winter.
Kayden was unbeaten throughout the tournament, scoring three wins and three draws from his six games.